Garachico’s maritime avenue had to be closed on December 24 Due to the swell and all the traffic in and out of the Isla Baja region was diverted, once again, through the interior of the historic center of the Villa and Port, declared in 1994 Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), with the category of historical complex. The mayor of Garachiquense, José Heriberto González (CC), has been demanding for years a solution to this problem, “which will worsen year after year with the rise in sea level due to the effects of climate change”, and insists that the only possible solution be planned to guarantee future local traffic without the threat of the sea: the low ring tunnel the cliffs of La Culata, between the area of the new port and the surroundings of the Las Cruces neighborhood.
González assumes that the bypass tunnel is “a long-term solution”, but asks the competent administrations to begin to advance at least with the drafting of a project. “If we do not have anything planned, we can do nothing when necessary,” he warns. The Garachiquense president is aware of the high cost and technical difficulty of this action, but understands that as it is “a necessity due to the adverse effects of climate change, it could receive European funds.”
“If we don’t have anything planned, we will be able to do nothing when necessary”
For González, «there is no other way to guarantee the road connection between Garachico and the rest of the Baja Island A tunnel must be taken out shortly after completion of the existing one “, in the vicinity of the new port and the El Lamero urbanization,” which will lead beyond the neighborhood of Saint Peter in the vicinity of The crosses». In a straight line, at an elevation of 100 meters above sea level, the distance is about 1.6 kilometers, considerably less than the tunnels of Erjos (5.1 kilometers) and Los Roquillos (2.2 kilometers), in The iron. And a little more than double the existing one in El Guincho, which is about 725 meters long.
In the short or medium term, from Garachico It also insists on the need to improve intervention protocols; carry out the total renovation works of the water drainage system of the maritime avenue; reform the winding TF-421 road, «which is the only alternative route we currently have to get out of the Baja Island», And the connection with the insular ring in the midlands. González assures that the current state of the TF-421 is “third world” and trusts that its improvement will soon be on the table “for the good of the entire region”, where more than 17,000 people reside.
After the scare at dawn on December 24, when the storm warning system failed and the waves flooded the avenue without prior notice, González has held talks with the island president, Pedro Martin (PSOE), and with the Deputy Minister for the Fight against Climate Change of the Government of the Canary Islands, Miguel Ángel Pérez (PSOE), of whom highlights “their involvement in the search for solutions for the future.”
«I have spoken with Pedro Martín and he shares with me the opinion that we must act to avoid greater evils. Also Miguel Ángel Pérez, who has already requested reports to try to determine what happened so that the system failed and, in addition, is preparing a meeting to continue advancing in more alternatives, ”the mayor details. In his view, apart from the bypass tunnel, the drainage and the improved TF-421, Other actions such as the improvement of the levees or the elimination of parking lots on the avenue could also be studied.
The system for the surveillance and prevention of maritime storms, which has a buoy that collects data in real time, “must still continue to improve and collect information, so what happened on the 24th will help each day to work a little better,” he points out. Mayor. But nevertheless, Jose Heriberto Gonzalez he acknowledges that “it is not enough” and wonders “what could have happened if those waves flooded the avenue on any given afternoon, with many more vehicles parked and people walking”.
Technical feasibility and examples in the Canary Islands
The mayor of Garachico, José Heriberto González (CC), has been calling for at least October 2019 the necessary studies to be carried out to determine whether it is feasible to build a bypass of the old town through a tunnel that crosses part of the cliffs of La Culata , from the surroundings of the new port to the vicinity of Las Cruces. After the problems that the El Guincho tunnel work generated, the mayor of Garachico is clear that this underground bypass could not pass under houses, so there is no other option but to create a tunnel under the cliffs to the south of the town. With between 1.5 and 2 kilometers in length, it would be a smaller tunnel than the Los Roquillos tunnel, in El Hierro, which measures 2.2 kilometers, and much smaller than the Erjos tunnel, which is more than 5 kilometers long.
